The Niyamas of Animal-Assisted Yoga
The first step of yoga is learning how not to treat others, and the second limb is the Niyamas, which teach us how to conduct ourselves to lead a fulfilling life.
The first Niyama is Saucha, which typically refers to the purification of mind and body, but for the purposes of understanding how this relates to our animal counterparts, we will look at the direct translation of Yoga Sutras 2.40: शौचात् स्वाङ्गजुगुप्सा परैरसंसर्गः, śaucāt svāṅgajugupsā parairasaṃsargaḥ, from purification own-body/limb-disgust with(others)-comes(contact). It’s clear from any perspective that the subject of this sutra is self-purification, but it does specify the body or limb, which is especially significant as we practice yoga in partnership with our animals. This sutra expresses the importance of grooming our animals and ourselves as well as keeping our body clean with good foods. That means giving our pets foods that are balanced by licensed veterinary nutritionists and providing our bodies with all the nutrients it needs as well as limiting the amount of processed foods and anti-nutrients that we clutter our bodies and those of our animal counterparts with.
Yoga Sutra 2.41 continues, सत्त्वशुद्धिः सौमनस्यैकाग्र्येन्द्रियजयात्मदर्शन योग्यत्वानि च, sattvaśuddhiḥ saumanasyaikāgryendriyajayātmadarśana yogyatvāni ca, Purification brings clarity, happiness, focus, and the possibility of self-realization. Looking on the outside, this is true for ourselves and our pets because our cleanliness effects our health and comfort. This is also true as we go deeper though. When we create structure in our lives for ourselves and our pets, we increase productivity while decreasing anxiety and mischief opportunities.
Santosha is the second Niyama, which is described in Yoga Sutra 2.42 as, संतोषातनुत्तमस्सुखलाभः saṃtoṣātanuttamassukhalābhaḥ from contentment, unsurpassed joy is gained. Contentment is the foundation of joy. If our goal is to live a blissful, symbiotic life with our pets, we must master and teach our animal counterparts to be content with what we have and what we can do now, in this moment. We must exude gratitude for the life we live and show our pets a consistent standard of what to expect from life. Our animals are content when they are never left guessing what will happen next because they know what to expect from any scenario, and it’s never that bad… even if it is a bath. Our job is to make this easy for them through consistency and learn from them by seeing the beauty in our own lives and not giving extra attention to the negative things that draw our minds away from the good.
The third Niyama is Tapas. Yoga Sutra 2.43 says, कायेन्द्रियसिद्धिरशुद्धिक्षयात् तपसः, kāyendriyasiddhiraśuddhikṣayāt tapasaḥ, body-senses-occult(power)-impurity-dwindling from austerity The body and senses gain occult power as impurities dwindle from austerity. Discipline and consistency allow you to accomplish things you never thought possible. Through the practice of austerity, we are our best selves, and our pets thrive with the structure and predictability that living in tapas provides.'
Once we have begun to understand the effect of integrating the Yamas and first three Niyamas in our lives with our pets, we can explore Yoga Sutra 2.44, स्वाध्यायादिष्टदेवता संप्रयोगः, svādhyāyādiṣṭadevatā saṃprayogaḥ, from self-study comes communion with your chosen deity. Svyadhyaya is an important concept to understand because in animal-assisted yoga, our chosen animals create a bridge to help us connect to our souls when we aren’t quite ready to make that venture alone. When we turn to self-study and understand our own habits, needs and values, we can communicate more clearly with our animals. As we continue to dig deeper into our svadhyaya, our animals get a clearer picture of who we are and, what we want from them, and all the reasons why they love us through our actions once we are aware of what messages we project with them. As we continue down this path of self-study, our connection with a sense of God gets stronger too, opening our hearts to a basic need for all mankind-faith in something greater than all of us.
Which brings us to Isvarapranidhana, or surrender to a higher power. Yoga Sutra 2.45 says, समाधि सिद्धिरीश्वरप्रणिधानात्, samādhi siddhiḥīśvarapraṇidhānāt, samadhi is perfected through surrender to a higher power. In life we seek a sense of peace, bliss; total absorption of the mind, for these attributes are the opposite of the anxiety that ails us. As our animal counterparts and us reduce anxiety and worry in our everyday life, our minds become clear and communication between us is fluent. Creating a sense of a higher power in our pets is easy. Become the leader that they look up to, the one who has all the answers and is in their eyes all-knowing. The amount of information our pets have to work with is minimal in comparison to what we humans must know. They will never need to budget or calculate expenses, nor will our animal counterparts have to operate heavy machinery or repair appliances. They don’t have to know about everything that we do, but we as their caregivers must be aware of everything that our animals are exposed to. It is possible for our pets to see us as omniscient.
Surrendering to a higher power as humans living in this world is much more difficult. We have built a world that is designed for our comfort and ease of survival, which makes it challenging for us to see ourselves as equal to other living souls. The summation of who we are is no greater than that of a whale, dog, or tree, but in each of those bodies, a soul does not have the privileged experience of living in a world designed for success in life. Therefore, we have a tendency to see other living things as less than. If we gather inspiration from our loyal pets, surrendering their will to ours for the sake of care, comfort, and bliss, we can also see the value in surrender to a higher power, as well.
